Bhubaneswar: Captains of successful start-ups, entrepreneurs, senior government officials and academic leaders converged at the KIIT-TBI organised Start-up Innovation Conclave 1.0 on Friday and highlighted the need to develop a vibrant ecosystem to promote and encourage talents to set up enterprises in the East and North-Eastern part of the country.
The two-day event is being organised as part of the ongoing silver jubilee celebrations of KIIT.
Gautam Kumar, co-founder and COO of FarEye and alumnus of KIIT Deemed-to-be-University, stressed on developing ideas and businesses that touch all segments of society.
KIIT DU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sasmita Samanta said that when Gautam had approached the university for financial assistance to the tune of Rs 25 lakh, KIIT and KISS Founder Dr Achyuta Samanta did not hesitate to extend support.
Gautam expressed his gratitude to Dr Samanta for providing financial support to his idea and venture that has gone on to become a unicorn today.
Lok Ranjan, Union Secretary in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), appealed for setting up of enterprises in North-Eastern region, stressing that the general perception start-ups cannot be developed in this part of the country must be set aside.
“Our vision in the north-east is to have a transformative impact in the region through development. We will focus on infra, health, education, and primary sector development through entrepreneurship,” he said.
Rajesh Kumar Pathak, Secretary, Technology Development Board (TDB), said the challenge is to set up ecosystem in smaller towns to support entrepreneurship and start-ups that are mostly concentrated in big cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurugram.
He announced that one of the proposals supported by them will soon become a reality as the start-up will produce malaria vaccine for the world in Bhubaneswar.
Former Secretary TBI H K Mittal hailed the achievements of KIIT-TBI for being the premier centres of its kind in the country and successfully creating hundreds of start-ups in the country.
Sunil Shukla, Director General of Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad, underscored the need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and shared a study of his institute which revealed that 52% of aspiring minds lack the confidence to take their venture ahead. However, the study also revealed that there has been a 15% increase this year.
Dr Samanta encouraged budding entrepreneurs to take up challenges to be successful in their venture, adding that KIIT is a shining example of successful entrepreneurship.
KIIT’s sister concern KISS is the largest university worldwide for tribal students and has won UNESCO’s highest literacy honour, pointed out Dr Samanta.
